combating conflict diamonds

Global Witness and Amnesty International launch new survey


Find out what top US retail jewellers are doing to combat conflict diamonds here

 

Global Witness is working to prevent diamonds from fuelling conflict, human rights abuses and terrorism.

The campaign to combat conflict diamonds is calling for the government-run Kimberley Process Diamond Certification Scheme to be strengthened. The Kimberley Process must require strong government diamond controls that are fully enforced to make sure the diamond industry is not trading in conflict diamonds. The diamond industry as a whole must change the way it operates, and become more transparent and accountable.

Conflict Diamonds

Conflict diamonds, also known as blood diamonds, are diamonds that are used by rebel groups to fuel conflict and civil wars. They have funded brutal conflicts in Africa that have resulted in the death and displacement of millions of people. Diamonds have also been used by terrorist groups such as al-Qaeda to finance their activities and for money-laundering purposes.

Only a few African economies have actually benefited from diamonds, while Angola, the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), Liberia and Sierra Leone are still recovering from widespread devastation resulting from wars fuelled by diamonds. Diamonds are being smuggled out of the rebel-held north of Cote d'Ivoire and out of eastern DRC, and continue to be used for money laundering, tax evasion and organized crime.

Global Witness and the Combating Conflict Diamond Campaign

Global Witness' ‘Combating Conflict Diamonds' campaign, launched in 1998, exposed the role of diamonds in funding conflict. This put the diamond industry, previously shrouded in secrecy, into the international spotlight. Growing international pressure from Global Witness and other NGOs demanded that governments and the diamond trade take action to eliminate the trade in conflict diamonds.

In response, in May 2000, the major diamond trading and producing countries, representatives of the diamond industry, and NGOs met in Kimberley, South Africa to determine how to tackle the conflict diamond problem. The meeting, hosted by the South African government, was the start of an important and often contentious three-year negotiating process to establish the Kimberley Process, an international diamond certification scheme. Global Witness continues to campaign for the effective implementation of the Kimberley Process to help ensure that diamonds can never again fuel conflict and can become a positive force for development.